Collegiate Swimmer Abraham DeVine Came Out As Gay

Despite now having the confidence to come out publicly, Stanford University senior Abraham DeVine says he found it difficult to come out privately. DeVine started out by talking to his former teammate Mx Williamson. He then worked up his way to coming out to other teammates and peers.

“I’m a gay athlete. There aren’t too many of us, so when I came out to my college team, that was a really tough time for me,” said DeVine.

He then added:

“I remember that being a pretty emotional time, and just feeling my whole team wrap around me and feeling that love in a place where I hadn’t really felt it, that was definitely pretty special for me,” DeVine said. “Just seeing them kind of prove me wrong was definitely special, something I’ll never forget.”

“Growing up gay in any sport is definitely tough. There’s a culture that is created in a lot of sports where being gay is an insult. It’s something that gets tossed around and makes you not want to go to practice or not want to hang out with the team or be a part of the team.”

Now that he’s cleared himself of any fear of coming out, DeVine can focus on the sport that he loves.

In fact, the Pac-12 Swimmer of the year shares that he’ll be competing to qualify for the 2020 Olympic swimming team.